Hi! I wanted to know whether a joint degree program such as Trium is equally reputable as a standalone EMBA degree from let us say NYU Stern. I want to be enlightened on whether recruiters view a joint degree program differently from a standalone reputable school. Thanks!

dualdegree

IMO I believe the answer depends on whether you receive actual diplomas from each participating school in question. Many joint programs only grant one diploma with all participating schools named on it. I think this is a big potential negative and hard to explain. Conversely, there are programs that offer dual degrees: Columbia and LBS, Cornell and Queen’s, and newly IE and Brown as examples. I would strongly favor these types of offerings where best in class business schools see fit to grant you the one and only MBA Degree they grant all of their graduates. Earning two Individual MBA Degrees allows graduates to display on their resumes accurately that they are graduates of the school in question and they can choose to display the other school or not as they see fit…

jackofalltrades

You have a good point. I just believe that any of those schools that offer a joint degree program do in fact confer a degree and are implicitly betting their reputation (regardless of the degree being joint). I spoke to one of the program directors of a top 10 business school and she told me that the student of a joint degree program can put either of the schools on the resume or all of the schools, depending on how reputable the school is to that particular employer. I would also imagine that the admission process of these joint degree programs should not be diminished relative to their standalone counterparts.

dualdegree

Very fair points, however relationships come and go over time. Columbia and Berkeley discontinued theirs as an example – and so, I would strongly advise anyone to consider strongly attending programs that issue individual diplomats/credentials for each school in the program. This way, as the world turns you will not have any risk in explaining the diploma on the wall with multiple names and or discussing why the program may no longer be in existence. At the end of the day, it is fine I am sure, but I am a paranoid individual who likes the security of an individual diploma. I also happen to truly love the concept of joint programs – but not joint diplomas. If anything, I think admissions is more challenging in joint programs because you are being evaluated by multiple admissions professionals from multiple schools…